Damage Not Quite Done
by MAndrews
Summary: Post BDM. The Operative warned Mal that Parliament was not forgiving, and he was right. But they are running out of ways to deal with their anger...maybe if they could just agree on something...
1. Prologue: Wetzel

Disclaimer: I own the Firefly and Serenity DVDs, but that's it. The characters, world, and what not still belong to Joss etc.

Author's Note: Can't guarantee quick updates, but I did finish the last Firefly fic I wrote so I have hopes for this one. I do have the first two parts already written and the first actual chapter half written, so there's that much at least.

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Prologue: Member of Parliament Wetzel

A member of Parliament is a powerful person in the Alliance, one not used to being thwarted. So the fact that Simon and River Tam were still running around more than a year after Simon broke into a supposedly secure facility and removed his sister, was vexing. Blue Sun's much vaunted Blue Hands had proved incapable of even finding the siblings without being tipped off. The usual reliable bounty hunter Early had mysteriously disappeared. They had declared the situation desperate and called on the operative, already in place, to move in and take them down. He had sent one report saying it wasn't possible and then vanished himself. And the second operative they had sent had outright defected on the verge success. He had even provided the condemned siblings, and the crew that had taken them in, with quality medical care.

Operative 17 had, however, sent in one final report. The contents had caused division among the upper echelons of Parliament. Though they had cancelled the psychic program a month previously due to lack of progress, Operative 17's report indicated that River Tam had taken on a room full of reavers single handedly. It was not the feat itself that surprised, the physical aspect of the program had never been a problem, it was the fact that River had been mentally capable of making the conscious decision to use all of her abilities, even the mental ones.

So something had happened. The most popular theory was that Simon Tam, a brilliant doctor with obvious motivation, had found something their own doctors had missed. Some members of Parliament wanted to bring in one or both of the siblings in and figure it out, restart the program. But others, Marcus Wetzel included, disagreed. The Tams were a liabilty, time to stop taking risks and end it; and Marcus Wetzel knew someone who could not fail.


	2. Prologue: Cassandra

Disclaimer: I do not own Firefly or Serenity

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Prologue II: Cassandra

The Right Honourable Marcus Wetzel set down his private shuttle on the edge of an isolated estate on Londinium's largest moon. The large house in the centre housed only one occupant, who rarely ventured into the extensive gardens surrounding her home. She was a private woman; the only people who came to her house regularly were the delivery people, with whom she never spoke.

Wetzel exited his shuttle and walked quickly up the path to the front door. No one peered out the windows, and there was no sign that his presence had been observed, but Wetzel did not bother with the intercom. He pushed the door and was not surprised when it swung open easily. He paused to adjust to the dim light and noted that the place seemed unchanged from when he had last been here, three years ago. There was still no sign on the house's resident, but Wetzel knew the inside of this house very well, and walked confidently to the sitting room in the west wing. He sat down in one of the leather chairs and waited for his hostess to appear.

After a few moments of silence, a voice spoke from the shadows behind him. "Look who's come to see us Aristotle. A very distinguished guest. Should we offer him wine do you think?" Wetzel sighed, not bothering to hide his annoyance, but knowing better than to turn around and look for her. "Yes, we ought to be polite and offer him refreshment," the voice continued thoughtfully. "It is only proper and we must be proper, mustn't we? Mind out manners and such."

"Very well, Cassandra, get me some wine if you must." He waited for her to emerge, tapping his fingers restlessly on the arm of the chair. Nothing happened for a moment and he opened his mouth to demand she come out, but she cut him off.

"He hasn't told us what kind of wine he would like."

"I haven't got time for this! I have a meeting in two hours, I need to get back to the planet."

"We do not like to be yelled at in our own house," she said reproachfully.

Wetzel sighed again but controlled himself, angering her would get him nowhere. "Red, then."

Cassandra stepped into the room proper at last and moved silently to a sideboard bearing several decanters and a variety of crystal goblets. She shifted the tortoiseshell cat in her arms so she had one free to pour and handed Wetzel his glass without a word. He drummed his fingers again, but didn't interrupt as she poured herself something pink. Once she was sitting, however, he got to the point.

"I want the Tams dead. And I want Malcolm Reynolds dead."

She sipped her drink as Aristotle arranged himself in her lap. She did not ask who the Tams or Reynolds were, but regarded him silently for several moments. She stroked Aristotle's head and he began purring as she answered at last. "Isn't that Blue Sun's problem?"

"They tried. None of their Blue Hand teams could even find them until someone tipped them off."

"Send an operative then."

Wetzel ground his teeth but his hostess took no notice of his irritation, waiting with complete calm for his answer. "We've sent two. They failed, as you know." Cassandra raised a delicate eyebrow, as if asking how someone like her could know the business of a member of Parliament. "This is pointless! Stop playing the lady Cassandra, you know why I'm here."

Cassandra pouted and lifted a protesting Aristotle to her cheek. Wetzel clenched his fists and forced himself to stay seated and quiet. Finally, resentfully, she said "Yes."

"Well?" he demanded when she didn't continue.

She leaned forward to let her pet onto the floor and took another sip of her drink, regarding him over the rim, all pretext of innocence gone. "I think it sounds...expensive."

Wetzel stared at her in surprise. He hadn't been expecting her to ask for money. She never went anywhere, all her needs were provided for, and she had never before shown any desire for anything more. "How expensive?"

She turned the glass slowly in her fingers, staring into as if the answer were floating there. "One million."

Wetzel drummed his fingers again. "You want one million credits to kill the three of them?"

Cassandra laughed. "Oh you should see your face! No, we want one million, in platinum, for each kill. Half payable in advance."

"You can't be serious!"

"What is the problem? You want three people dead, I want three million platinum. We can both provide what the other wants, so I repeat, what's the problem?"

Wetzel shook his head. She was right, the money would be easy enough to get, even in platinum. It just worried him that she wanted something she couldn't possibly have a use for. Granted, she wasn't the most mentally stable individual, but she had seemed completely lucid when naming her price. But there weren't any other options. Operatives and Blue Hands had all failed, Cassandra was all that was left.

"Three million it is then. I'll have the first half ready for you tomorrow." Cassandra smiled sweetly and Wetzel left, feeling much less sure of himself than he had hoped.


	3. Chap 1: WakeUp Call

Disclaimer: Firefly and its characters and world are a Jossverse. I am not Joss.

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Chapter 1: A Midnight Wake-Up Call 

The ship was planet-side for the night. The crew had spent the day picking up supplies and was ready to leave as soon as Mal and Zoe had met with their new client tomorrow morning. It promised to be a well paying job, the best they'd had since releasing the Miranda wave.

Everyone but Inara was still asleep and she was in her shuttle, reading letters from friends on Sihnon. No threat to the young woman creeping through Serenity's silent halls. She had come in through the same hatch as Jubal Early. Not deliberately, but she enjoyed the irony nonetheless. She inspected the ship before coming to rest in the kitchen, eying the selection of teas Inara kept there.

"Very civilized," she told Aristotle approvingly. "But we must get to business. Who should we start with?" Aristotle meowed and Cassandra nodded thoughtfully. "You're right, River needs her sleep, we shall leave her 'til last. So, to the crew quarters then."

Malcolm Reynolds knew his ship was locked, and he knew the only member of his crew who would sneak into his room while he was sleeping wouldn't be deterred by a locked door. So he never locked his bunk at night. Of course, the woman currently climbing down his ladder wouldn't have been deterred by a locked door either, but it would have made him feel better later if he had been able to tell himself it would have slowed her down at least a little.

Mal was enjoying a dream about horses and ducks when he was woken by several sharp objects piercing his chest. He jerked awake and reached for his gun with one hand and checked his chest with the other. There didn't appear to be any significant holes in his chest and he might have passed it off as a dream, except that his gun wasn't there either.

"You frightened Aristotle!" a voice scolded from over by his desk. Mal looked over and slowly stood up. There was a girl he had never seen before, crouching by his desk. Mal moved slowly to another of his guns, lying in plain view on a shelf and pointed it at her. She looked harmless enough, but so had Saffron; so did River.

"Who are you? And what in the gorram hell are you doing on my ship?"

Although she wasn't facing him, she didn't have her back completely towards him either, and Mal could see enough of her face to tell that the question seemed to puzzle her.

"We are not always sure who we are. Right now we ought to be one, but seem to be the other."

'_She sounds like River'_ Mal thought sourly. It also occurred to him that there had been other students at that Academy; students who had not been removed from Alliance hands. He cocked the hammer of his gun grimly but she spoke before he could repeat his questions.

"We were sent but did not come." She looked at him over her shoulder for a moment.

"You seem awfully present for someone who didn't come," Mal pointed out.

She frowned. "That is not what we meant. We meant that we did not come to do what we were sent." She turned her attention back to the space under his desk and reached out. "Come out 'Totle, the grumpy old captain isn't going to shoot you. It's alright." Mal resented being referred to as grumpy and old in his own cabin, but took advantage of her apparent distraction by edging towards the ladder and the intercom. He wondered who she thought she was talking to under the desk.

"I am talking to Aristotle," she said, glancing at him again.

Mal froze. "Right then." He waited for her to turn back to the desk but she kept looking at him, a faintly annoyed expression on her face.

"You did ask who I was talking to."

"I didn't, actually."

The girl stood up slowly, her head cocked to one side and a worried frown on her face. "But I heard you. And I wasn't listening so you must have said!"

Mal shook his head and took a casual step towards to ladder. "Didn't say a word." _'Gorramit, I'm gonna be killed by a crazy girl, and it aint't even River!'_

The girl suddenly clapped her hands over her ears. "If you're going to think loud, think out loud!"

Mal took another step towards the ladder.

The girl looked upwards for a moment and then glared at him. "You woke River up." She crouched down again and reached under the desk and hauled something out from underneath it before standing up again. "Aristotle is sorry he scratched you, but you made a funny sound in your sleep and startled him."

Mal blinked, startled. There was a cat peering at him from the girl's arms, and Mal didn't think it looked particularly apologetic. He shook his head and scolded himself for getting drawn into the girl's craziness. Bad enough when he got caught up in River's, at least she hadn't been sent to kill him.

"I already told you, I was sent but didn't come!" the girl snapped, looking upset.

The door above Mal creaked open and River started climbing down. "You hurt her feelings captain!"

"What?" he spluttered, staring at her, but keeping his gun trained on the girl and her cat.

"You don't listen," River said reprovingly as she stepped off the ladder. Another pair of feet started coming down and Mal moved to make room for both Tams.

"Alright, somebody explain right now! Who is she?"

"She is Annika," River said.

The girl seemed to brighten. "Yes, that was our name before!"

"Before what?" Mal snapped. He was very lost, and it was very late. At least the doctor looked as confused as he was, staring bewildered and the girl and her cat.

"Before they changed her." River shook her head disgustedly at Mal and moved over to the girl, Annika. Mal looked over at Simon who was watching his sister with a very tired expression on his face.

When Simon noticed Mal looking at him he shook his head and shrugged helplessly. "Don't ask me, captain. All I know is River jumped on me, told me to get up cause 'she' was here and we had to come make sure you didn't do anything stupid."

"That can be difficult. Who exactly is 'she'?" Zoe asked, appearing at the top of the ladder. Apparently they'd woken her up too. She jumped off, landing neatly beside Simon and regarded the two girls fussing over the cat. Her hand had gone to her gun as soon as it was free, but she seemed to decide anyone River was playing with wasn't a threat.

"We're still working that out, since the only two who know anything seem more interested in a gorram animal than explaining to an armed and irritated captain."

"Not really armed if there's no bullets," Annika pointed out. River giggled and both Simon and Zoe glanced questioningly at Mal. Mal glared at the girls and checked his gun. Sure enough it was empty. He opened his mouth to demand she tell him where they'd gone and she pointed to his desk drawer.

Grinding his teeth, he tossed the empty gun onto his bed. "Just how long have you been in here?"

Annika cocked her head to the side and chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Approximately 23 minutes and 40 seconds, at the time you asked."

Mal sighed and ignored the fact that Simon and Zoe were sniggering.

"But who is she?" Zoe asked when she could speak again.

"We really don't know. Well, I think River does, but all _we_ know is that her name, apparently, is Annika." Simon told her.

"Who's name is Annika?" Kaylee asked from the hallway above them. The three of them peered upwards and saw Kaylee and Inara standing in the doorway, peering back down at them. "And what are y'all doin' in the cap'n's bunk in the middle of the night?"

"I live here, River's psychic, Simon got dragged here, and I assume we woke Zoe up since she's right next door. And as we already said, we ain't sure about Annika...or Aristotle. What are you two doing here?"

Inara began climbing down the ladder, closely followed by Kaylee, who answered. "Well, I fell asleep in my hammock. When I woke up there, I went to go join Simon an' found his bunk empty. I thought he might be getting a drink or somethin' so I came to check the kitchen and found Inara makin' tea. Then we heard voices and came to see what was up. Who's Aristotle?"

"Fine." Mal turned back to the two girls. "Will one of you please explain now? Cause I'd really like ta know what's happening on my own gorram ship."

"We have to get Jayne first. Don't want to have to explain twice."

Mal told himself that grown men did not whimper, he was just sighing melodically.

"Maybe we oughta move to the mess, then." Zoe suggested.

"Sounds good. You two go first." He pointed at River and Annika. "And take the cat with you!" He really didn't trust any of them in his room. The girls merely giggled and scrambled up the ladder. Simon followed, with Kaylee behind him. Inara glanced at Mal sympathetically before she left.

"River ain't worried, sir." Zoe said reassuringly. Mal didn't reply, he just followed the rest of his crew to the mess.


	4. Chap 2: Translation

Disclaimer: Firefly was created by Joss Whedon

Author's Note: I wasn't happy with the way this was going or I'd have had it up sooner. Then I talked to my usual beta reader and she gave me the idea for how to fix it so this is all her fault (btw, thanks dear).

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Jayne Cobb was less than pleased when he was woken by someone banging on his door. The fact that this banging was accompanied by the moon-brained girl's voice calling his name did not improve matters. He was even more annoyed when sweet little Kaylee's voice joined River's, but he didn't get up. Making noise like that they'd wake Mal and he'd get rid of them right quick. He was a little shocked when the sophisticated Inara and usually reserved Simon started calling for him too. He was fully awake now and very annoyed. He threw back his covers, sat up and shoved his feet into boots, determined to make somebody, probably the doctor, pay for disturbing his sleep.

At this point, the door to his bunk opened and Mal shouted down at him. "Jayne Cobb, you get your pigu up here. We got a guest on board and I apparently ain't getting any explanation until you get out here. So move it!"

Everyone stopped shouting his name and started moving away so when Jayne actually emerged from his bunk, only Mal was standing there, glaring at him. "Just how soundly do you sleep?"

Jayne glared back and went to join the rest of the crew in the mess. When he got there, Zoe was leaning against the counter, Inara was sitting at the table with Simon and Kaylee across from her, and they were all watching River and some blonde playing with a cat at the head of the table. Jayne dropped into a chair on Inara's side of the table and Mal stood at the opposite end from the two girls.

Jayne considered the girl for a moment. She was cute, if a little short, but not worth getting out of bed for as far as he was concerned. And besides, the way she was cooing over the damn animal with River, she was probably crazy.

Mal put on his best captainy look and nodded at the girls. "Right, we're all here, so explain. Now. Startin' with your real name."

The blonde girl took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter. "I have been Cassandra for several years now, but I was once Annika Wetzel."

"Wetzel?" Mal repeated sharply. "As in, member of Parliament Wetzel?"

It was River who answered. "He was a bad father."

Mal shifted uncomfortably. "Alright, go on then."

"The whispers began when I was a child. I was their echo and those who cared for me did not like to hear. I went through nannies very quickly, and my mother was at her wit's end for what to do. My father was no help. The voices whispered nightmares to me when he was near, though he not often was." She looked up and realized everyone was staring at her blankly.

"I'm sorry, I cannot...the words do not come right."

"She can't fight all the shadows in her mind, only some," River added helpfully. Everyone but Simon continued to look blank and Jayne fought not to roll his eyes. He couldn't believe Mal had dragged him out of a perfectly good dream about Helen to listen to some new crazy babbling.

Simon didn't look blank, but he didn't look like he entirely understood either. "River, what do you mean?"

"She has light in her mind, but it can only stay if she doesn't turn out the dark bits," River explained.

Simon seemed to run this through his head for a moment, frowning in concentration. "Are you saying she can make sense, but not about this?"

River nodded, beaming proudly at her brother.

"So, the only one who can understand Cassandra, or Annika..." Mal paused and looked at the girl who was watching him with her head to one side. "What do you want us to call you?"

"Annika is gone, she died with her mother."

Mal paused again, blinking at her. "Ok. So, Cassandra then. The only one who can understand Cassandra is River, and the only one who can understand _her_ is the doctor." Simon nodded slowly and Mal sighed. "This is gonna be a long explanation isn't it?" Simon glanced at the two girls and the looked helplessly back at Mal. Jayne's mood did not improve. "Alright, get on with it then. Translate that first bit she said and let's move on."

"She said she couldn't hear the words but saw the colours when she was a child and it frightened her nannies, worried her mother, and her black daddy didn't notice."

Everybody looked at Simon. "I think she means Cassandra is naturally empathic. She could sense other people's thoughts without actually hearing them."

"And the bit about her father?" Zoe asked.

"I think they're just saying he frightened her but otherwise wasn't really involved." River and Cassandra both nodded.

"Right, next part then. Go ahead Cassandra."

"Our mother died when we were 12 and we were injured too and nearly followed. When we woke up, the voices were singing gentle songs until the dark sun came, then they sang horror. She tried to hide the voices, but couldn't keep them inside and he heard at last what there was. He sent her away to hide in the realm of death and called me to come. Annika was to die but I couldn't kill her so she hid in the realm and whispers to me.

"The dark sun summoned other dark suns and they tried to make the voices sing their songs to them, but we were frightened by what they sang and would not. They poked at the music until we broke. We could not think in lines, only waves." She cuddled the cat up to her face and looked at River.

River looked at her brother. "The doll-maker died when the doll was 12. The other doll-maker finally remembered he had made a doll and realized what a special doll she was. Her head was cracked and the music leaked out. He tried to make the doll sing to him but he couldn't understand the music. He tried to delete her program and put in a new one, but the first one did not disappear and the new one did not work as he wished because of it. Then he and the others tried to fix her program and broke her more."

"Ok, doll-makers are parents. And she already told us her mother died. As for the rest of it..." he trailed off for a moment, staring at the ceiling while everyone waited. "Ok...there was an accident when she was 12, that's how her mother died. Her father finally had to remember she existed and suddenly realized that she was different. More different than before, I think. The accident must have caused some sort of head trauma which moved her from empathic to truly psychic." He paused and glanced at the girls for confirmation; they both nodded and he continued. "Her father talked to other members of Parliament and they started studying her. While this was happening...well, it must have been traumatic enough, losing her mother and falling into the hands of a father like that, but add in the stress of hearing other people's thoughts and her father and the others trying to break into her mind, she developed a sort of alternate personality, Cassandra."

"The dark suns helped form her, but she did not come out as expected." Cassandra clarified.

"Dark Apollo made a seer because she didn't love him or obey."

Simon took a moment to add that into his translation. "Ok, um...Cassandra was Parliament's creation. At least, she was supposed to be. I assume that Annika was being uncooperative, so they tried to sort of get rid of her, reprogram her, sort of like they did to River. But it didn't work, the obedient personality they were trying to create took form before they had completely broken Annika and they two sort of melded, but are still, I guess, separated. Did that make sense?"

"Sense enough," Mal said. Jayne didn't agree, but everyone else was nodding at least a little and he didn't want to look stupid. "Did the doc miss anything?" Mal asked the girls. They seemed to consider this for a moment then shook their heads.

Cassandra put the cat back into her lap. "The voices sang and sang but we could not sing anymore, so the dark suns tried to coax the voices away. But the others did not have any ears and the sisters laughed and cut their strings for trying to hear what was not theirs to hear. But the darks suns are gods and only the mortals died.

"Eventually they found out who else could hear the voices and taught them to hear and echo back. But many joined Hades' feast and all of them suffered the curse of the siren song. They gave them swords still, and tried to tame them, but they too could think only as the waves do, and the sun gods grew frustrated. Then the hero came and took one of their prophets away. They sent the furies and the monsters to bring them both back, but the first warrior of the shadows failed them for pity, the second for darkness, and the blue firies could not find them."

"Their doll broke so they took other dolls and tried to make them like they'd wanted theirs to be, but they kept breaking too. They found dolls who would not shut down when the program changed, but still couldn't install the one they wanted. Then Simon stole me and they sent them; Two by two, hands of blue, and others who I could not hear. The ones who live in the shadows, even their minds. The hands of blue could not find us although the shadow warriors could. The first one they sent felt sorry for the doll and her brother and did not take them away when they told him too. The second was changed into nothing by the captain." Everyone looked expectantly at Simon who was staring in shock at his sister, who was starting to look upset, though she'd been calm before. Mal, Jayne noted, also look very disturbed.

"Tell me that didn't mean what I think it meant."

Simon glanced worriedly at Mal then turned to his sister. "Are you saying there were two operatives? That the one who came after us wasn't the first?"

"The second did not come until the first one failed. I did not see him but couldn't think to see what wasn't there, only that it was maybe quieter than it ought to have been."

"I don't understand," Kaylee said softly.

River was starting to get more upset and Simon hurried over to her. "I'm sorry! I didn't see! There were so many other voices I didn't notice that one was missing!" she started to cry and Cassandra gently put the cat into River's lap where it began licking her hand. River patted it on the head in time with Simon stroking her hair.

"Doc?" Mal prompted. There was a dangerous edge to his voice that made Jayne nervous. He looked around. Kaylee was upset and as confused as Jayne was, although he had an uneasy feeling about where this was going. Zoe looked hard and Inara worried. Jayne turned to frown at the girls and the doctor and waited impatiently.

Simon swallowed and stared fixedly at the table. "You already know that Parliament set up the academy to create psychic assassins. And you obviously know that I found out from River what they were doing and went in to get her out. Cassandra said they sent an operative after us. Not the one we ran into just before River told us about Miranda, but another one who came first."

"When did we ever run into another operative?" Kaylee asked, her voice shaking. She looked around as though asking someone to tell her it wasn't true. Mal was staring silently at Cassandra, Inara looked at horrified as Kaylee, Jayne didn't want to follow that train of thought and Simon was busy trying to calm River. It was Zoe who said what was slowly occurring to the them all.

"Book. You're talking about Book, aren't you?"

"I saw glimpses of the light behind the dark, but I didn't understand what I saw. I never knew what was real and what wasn't and he pretended to be a shepherd so well I never realized he was a wolf. But he became a sheep!"

"It can't be!" Kaylee said firmly. "Ain't no way shepherd was an operative. He was on this ship for near on seven months with Simon and River. If he were an operative, how come he didn't bring 'em in? Why'd he help stop Dobson from catchin' 'em?"

"The Alliance knew Simon was suspicious, they could hardly fail to notice. They knew he knew more than he could have learned from River's letters too. They wanted to find out who was helping him, but he moved before they thought he would and managed to get River out from under their noses even though the were expecting him. They freaked out. The academy sent one of their feds to find them; Parliament sent an operative. They were especially panicked because they realized that the stolen psychic was the one they had visited only a week before. But the program was failing, and Parliament is nothing if not pragmatic. When the operative reported that he'd found them, but that the fed had as well and asked for instruction, they told him to get the fed out of the way and let Simon and River be. They had wanted Simon as either a student or a member of the team of doctors, but circumstance prevented either from being possible to arrange discreetly, and he specialized in the wrong area of medicine.

"But they still knew he was brilliant, and they knew he was motivated. It occurred to them that Simon might just be able to spot something they'd missed, improve on River's lucid periods. And he never would if they had River, so they let him keep her, but told the operative to watch, and report."

"Book was spying on us the whole time he was here?" Mal demanded. Jayne didn't think he'd heard Mal sound so cold since Miranda.

"He sent occasional reports to Parliament. They knew River was doing a little better than she had been, but not as much as they wanted. Even though he sent them a full report on the Early incident, they didn't think she'd come far enough. They decided to cancel the academy program and told their operative to bring her in; with Simon and the rest of you understanding more and more of what she said, there was too much chance you'd learn what they knew she knew. But he refused, so they sent another one to kill her." Jayne decided crazy people were even creepier than normal when they suddenly went sane.

"And he failed too. So why are _you_ here?" Mal asked.

"Damage done, as he told you, Miranda's out. But they're still angry. I was sent to kill them, and you, captain Reynolds."

Jayne, Mal, and Zoe all reached for their weapons, but only Jayne drew it.

"And are you planning to?" Mal asked.

"Cassandra is Annika and Annika is Cassandra. They do not obey the dark suns for they see what they are." River whispered.

"Sent but didn't come," Mal said. "So, I'll take that as a no." Everyone but River and Cassandra looked oddly at Mal. "It's what she said earlier," Mal said irritably when he noticed them staring at him.

"So what now?" Inara asked. Jayne was surprised at how shaken she still sounded.

"Well, now I'm sure she ain't planning to kill me, I ready to go back to bed and come at this in the morning." Zoe looked a bit sceptical but didn't object. Inara nodded and Mal turned to Simon. "You wanna set her up somewhere so's she can sleep too?" Simon nodded and began shooing the girls, River still sniffling, out of the mess. Kaylee and Inara hurried to follow him.

When they were gone, Zoe turned to Mal. "You actually going to sleep?"

"I think better when I'm rested." Zoe snorted softly but didn't say anything more. Both of them moved back to the crew bunks and Jayne decided it was safe to sleep. He'd find someone to complain to in the morning.


	5. Chap 3: The Next Morning

Disclaimer: Joss owns the Firefly verse, I just play with it.

Author's Note: Yes, I know, it's been a while, but I was having trouble cutting this chapter down. It was really drawn out and slow. I think it still is a little, but I'm calling it character establishing.

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Chapter 3: The Next Morning and A Feline Alarm Clock

Simon Tam woke to the sound of giggling. This was not unusual, as both River and Kaylee were often prone to giggles. However, as he moved further from sleep and into consciousness, he realized that there were more than two people giggling, and that, worryingly, his face felt rather strange. With a sigh and the knowledge that he was going to regret it, he opened his eyes.

The giggling turned to outright laughter as Simon jerked upright with a yell and Aristotle slid down Simon's bare chest. The small cat meowed reproachfully at Simon, who glared back. After a moment he realized that no human ever won a staring contest with a cat; with as much dignity as he could muster under the circumstances, he deposited the complaining cat on the floor and grabbed a shirt. He glanced around as he pulled it on and noted with resignation that four people were still laughing at him. As he had expected, River and Kaylee were present; he couldn't say he was really surprised to see Cassandra, but he had not expected to see Inara standing in the doorway, laughing so hard she was clinging to the frame to keep upright.

"That was so funny!" Kaylee gasped, scooping up Aristotle and scratching the offended cat behind his ears.

"I'm glad you're amused," Simon replied sourly. "Did you need something Inara?"

Inara gathered her companion composure and straightened. "I just came to get Kaylee. Mal wants her to make breakfast." Simon could still see the grin tugging at her lips.

"I'm comin,'" Kaylee said, slipping on some shoes. "I picked up the fixins for pancakes yesterday, and I got blueberries too. You like blueberry pancakes Cassie?"

Cassandra was sitting on the floor against the wall by the door. She gave Kaylee a hesitant look. "We don't know. We haven't had pancakes since we were a child. We never learned to cook, all our food is pre-prepared."

"Aint't there anyone else 'round you who knows how to cook?" Kaylee asked.

Cassandra shook her head. "There is only Aristotle and us, and he does not have the required appendages."

Kaylee glanced at the cat in her arms. She was smiling when she answered, but Simon could hear the sadness in her voice. "Guess he don't. Well, why don't ya come to the kitchen with me and I'll teach you how to make pancakes. They're real easy."

Cassandra's eyes widened and she looked confusedly at River.

River, who was sitting on the end of her brother's bed, leaned forward reassuringly. "It's alright. Kaylee sees Annika, it's what she does."

Cassandra glanced back at Kaylee, her expression relaxing into a shy smile. "I would like to learn to make pancakes. Thank you Kaylee."

Kaylee's smile, which had faltered a second, now returned to its normal sunny-ness and she held out a hand to the other girl. She led her out of the room, already explaining how they'd start. Inara shot Simon a last amused look and followed them out.

Simon pushed the blankets back and stood up, giving his sister an inquiring look as she was still sitting on his bed and he wanted her out so he could finish changing.

"Kaylee's sweet," River told him seriously. "She always sees who people should be, not who they are." Her expression suddenly turned innocent. "That's why she always liked you!"

Simon recognized the backhanded compliment and threw his pillow at her. "Get out!" he ordered, without any real force behind it. In truth, he was relieved she was doing well enough to be bratty.

River caught the pillow and threw it back, giggling before turning serious again. "It's all right, ge-ge. Everyone forgets the details sometimes. But you're always you enough to help me remember me." She kissed his cheek, whacked him with the pillow, and darted into the hall.

Telling himself it was still too early in the morning to be interpreting his sister, he finished getting dressed and hurried to the kitchen. He had a feeling Mal would be impatient with stragglers this morning, and although Simon had lost most of his fear of the captain, he still had a healthy respect for his temper. He was pleased to note when he reached the kitchen that Jayne was still not there.

"Morning doc," Mal said, without looking at him. Zoe echoed him, though she too kept her eyes on the three girls in the kitchen. Inara, sitting next to the first-mate, gave him an amused smile, but quickly returned her attention to River, Kaylee, and Cassandra.

Simon murmured a return greeting to Mal and Zoe and took a seat beside Inara. He could see why they found the girls much more interesting than him; although it had taken him no more than two minutes to finish dressing, the girls had already managed to get themselves covered in pancake batter. They were giggling and whispering to each other, and kept shooting speculative looks at their audience.

After five minutes of silence at the table, Mal, without looking at them, asked, "One of you gonna go get Jayne?"

Three voices replied in overlapping versions of "no."

Mal let that go for a moment as River and Cassandra had a very giggly battle over a spatula while Kaylee pretended to be stern. When they settled a bit Mal continued. "One of you has got to go get him."

"Aristotle likes waking people up," Cassandra offered, looking up from the bowl of batter. She, River, and Kaylee dissolved into giggles. Inara hid a smile behind her hand, looking sideways at Simon and Mal snorted thoughtfully.

He looked at Simon and said casually, "Cat woke me up last night and I hear it woke you up this morning. I think that makes it Jayne's turn, don't you?" Simon nodded. "Right, where's that cat got to then?" Mal asked, standing up. Simon leaned down and retrieved Aristotle, who had been playing with the lacings on his boots. Mal took Aristotle and headed to the crew bunks; Simon, Zoe, and Inara followed.

Mal stopped outside Jayne's bunk and quietly pushed it open before turning to the rest of them. "Who wants to do the honours?" he asked.

Zoe held out her hands and Mal handed her Aristotle who climbed agreeably onto her shoulder as she started down the ladder. The three of them left in the hall crowded close to the door and listened intently. They moved aside just enough to let Zoe back out when she reappeared on the ladder, explaining in a whisper that she'd put Aristotle on the foot of Jayne's bed.

"Poor cat," Simon muttered. Mal shot him an amused look. They waited a few more seconds, suddenly there was a shout of alarm, a feline cry of outrage, and a string of Chinese swearing. Thirty seconds later Jayne climbed halfway up the ladder and shoved Aristotle into the hallway before slamming his bunk shut.

Mal pushed it back open. "That was your wake-up call Jayne. You got five minutes to get your pigu dressed and in the mess or I'm gonna send River and Cassandra in to get you."

"You keep those crazy girls outta my bunk!" Jayne shouted.

"See you in five minutes then!" Mal called back cheerfully. He pulled the hatch shut again and led the rest of them back to the mess.

Jayne appeared almost exactly five minutes later and glared at everyone as he plopped into a chair. The girls had just finished their first batch of pancake and were carefully setting up plates for everyone. They'd put a lot of effort into the pancakes. They had oh so carefully arranged the blueberries so they spelled out the name of each member of the crew.

Mal let the crew eat for a few minutes, but Simon wasn't surprised when he carefully laid down his fork and leaned back. "Good breakfast girls. 'Preciate the effort y'all put into it. But we do gotta talk about certain things."

"Ah, cap'n, can't it wait ti lafter breakfast."

"Wish it could, Kaylee, but we've got to get to that meetin and then I want to get off this planet. So we need to decide some things now."

"What kind of things?" Kaylee asked uneasily.

Mal turned to Cassandra. "Like you. You've already established that you didn't come here to actual like kill us, so why come at all?"

"So you would know the suns are still angry."

"That the only reason?" Zoe asked.

Cassandra bit her lip and looked at her plate. "We...we also wanted to leave for ourselves. We are lonely." She sniffed and looked anxiously at the captain. "Aristotle is quiet in thought and voice, but..." she broke off and seemed to fight for the words to express herself. "We do not like to hear other's thoughts, but we do not like to be alone either. We can keep the music quiet most of the time, but we like to have it whisper to us."

"You want to travel with us?" Mal said after a moment.

"I will not peek if you do not shout. And I brought money. We were paid in advance."

"Won't that bring th'Alliance down on us even more?" Jayne pointed out.

"The suns have no interest in the Elysian fields, if they believe you are there, they will no longer seek to send you there."

"Won't they want proof?" Inara asked. "I mean, all the others they've sent have failed, won't they want you to prove that you've done what you say?"

"They believe in Cassandra. They did not send up before because they did not think it necessary."

Everyone looked to Mal who was regarding her thoughtfully. "Could use the cash," he said as last. "Still gotta get to that meeting though. Come on Zoe." They both stood up and Mal looked at Simon and Kaylee. "Set her up a room in the passenger dorms." Simon nodded. He looked over at River and Cassandra, who were giving him identical looks of little sister guilt. He sighed inwardly and wondered what they were getting into now.


	6. Chap 4: Admitting

Disclaimer: You all know these characters and this world belong to Joss; I'm just borrowing them.

Author's Note: Just a short chapter so everyone knows I haven't abandoned the story and finally figured out where it's going. Maybe...

UPDATED: just correcting an error

* * *

"Alright, tell me." Simon said, sitting down on River's bed and giving the two girls a resigned look. River and Cassie looked up from the pile of papers between them and blinked innocently at him. 

"Please, just tell me what it is so I can get this over with."

"You think the captain will blame you," Cassandra observed.

"I know Mal is going to blame whatever it is on me because you're girls... girls who look innocent and sweet even though you most definitely aren't and that is Mal's major weakness. He has a hero complex."

"So do you," River pointed out. Simon chose to ignore this.

"Well?"

The innocent looks were exchanged for the guilty ones they'd had after breakfast and Simon sighed. This was going to be bad, he could feel it down to his toes.

"Some of the dark suns don't want you dead." Cassie said after a long moment of silence.

Simon frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Damage done. They all agree on that, but the dark suns are divided on what to do about it. Some, like ...like _him_ want revenge. They are the ones who sent me. But I am not the only last resort. The others have sent their own person to continue the original mission. Bring you in and make the prohpets work."

Simon looked at them for a long moment. "I'm not sure I..." he started but River cut in, saying simply, "You fixed me. I know you don't always think so, but you did. They want to take me apart and see what you did."

"So it won't be quite so simple as convinving members of Parliament that we're dead, we have to make this other hunter think so too."

"He will not be satisfied you are dead unless he sees bodies."

"Well, that's great. And when were you planning to tell Mal this?"

They exchanged looks again.

"Oh no," Simon said firmly when they looked back at him. "No, he won't kill you two, but he'll put me out the nearest airlock. You two are not pawning this off on me."

"But he'll be loud!" River objected.

"With mind and tongue," Cassie agreed.

Simon sighed.

Twenty minutes later, Zoe, Jayne, Kaylee, and Inara were sitting on the couches watching Simon try to keep the mess hall table between himself and the angry, pacing captain.

"Why the guay can't they just leave well enough alone?"

"Life was just starting to settle in again! Now we've got some new Alliance hunter after us." Mal stopped and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Alright people, let's start figuring out what we're going to do."

"Actually, I think I might have an idea about that."


End file.
